Kopper Kitchen Site Will be Vacant No More

A brand new restaurant is going into the old Kopper Kitchen building at 601 W. St. Charles Road.

CSP Investment Inc. is asking the Elmhurst City Council to consider granting a liquor license to Kitchen Eatery so patrons will be able to order beer and wine tableside.

Kitchen Eatery will be open from 6:30 a.m. through midnight weekdays, possibly later on weekends, according to a memo provided to aldermen. The menu will offer breakfast, lunch and dinner options all day.

The location, on the northwest corner of St. Charles Road and Route 83, one of the busiest intersections in DuPage County, had been home to Kopper Kitchen for 40 years. For a time before it closed down, it was operating 24 hours a day. Kopper Kitchen also served liquor.

The restaurant closed in early 2011. At that time, a representative of the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce told Elmhurst Patch the owner had died and the family was unsure about its future. But other media reports disputed that claim, stating there had been a family feud followed by an eviction.

The new owners are investing $500,000 into the development of the restaurant, which will include a major remodel both inside and out. The plan is for a "modern family restaurant with a nostalgic, retro feel." Annual sales projections are $1.5 million.

According to information provided to the City Council, President of CSP Investment, Chris Conglis, has 18 years of management experience and owned and operated a family style restaurant for eight years.

Vice President John Pappas has 15 years of restaurant ownership and management experience, along with 25 years of real estate brokerage experience. And Tom Samatas, secretary-treasurer of CSP, owns and operates two successful corporations related to the food industry.

The menu offerings at Kitchen Eatery are similar in nature to those at Kopper Kitchen but seem to have some added touches.

"Our menu will excite the palate, please the eye and remain affordable," Pappas wrote in the memo.

Menu items will include:

Breakfast—Eggs, omelets, skillets, benedicts and egg sandwiches; assorted types of french toast and pancakes, including caramel banana, honey cakes and nutella cakes; waffles with fruit, or ham and cheese mixed into the batter; berry, veggie, cobbler and bananas foster crepes; healthy choices like yogurt, oatmeal and fruit; and meat and potato side dishes.

Lunch—Signature sandwiches and wraps, like grilled roast beef with balsamic onion jelly, roasted turkey with pecan cream cheese and grilled lemon thyme chicken on artisan bread, to name a few; classic sandwiches and wraps, like traditional turkey, BLT club, reuben and tuna; a variety of salads.

Dinner—Baked macaroni and cheese, chicken pot pie, chicken and gravy with biscuits, meatloaf, fried chicken, grilled skirt steak, tilapia, seared ahi tuna and assorted desserts, including homemade pie.

Kitchen Eatery also will offer a kids' menu and some "Late Night Extras."

The liquor license request is headed to the Public Affairs and Safety Committee, which will make a recommendation for the full City Council. Aldermen will vote on whether to approve the liquor license at a future meeting.

The restaurant's tentative ground-breaking and opening date were not immediately available.